Oceania

At approximately 1935 hours EST on 6 May, 1969 an Aero Commander 500S aircraft, registered VH-EXT, struck the ground and crashed 2 miles west of Warracknabeal Aerodrome, Victoria, while making an approach to land at that aerodrome. The aircraft was owned and operated by Executive Air Services Pty. Ltd. of Melbourne and at the time of the accident it was engaged on a scheduled passenger commuter service between Essendon and Warracknabeal. The pilot, Allan James WALKER, and one passenger received minor injuries. A second passenger, the only other occupant, was seriously injured. The aircraft was virtually destroyed by impact forces. The pilot, aged 28 years, held a Current Commercial Pilot Licence, which was endorsed for the Aero Commander type of aircraft. He was the holder of a Class One Instrument Rating and this rating had been renewed after a flight test on 2 April, 1969. His total flying experience amounted to 5427 hours and of this, 966 hours had been flown on Aero Commander aircraft. He had recorded totals of 335 hours of instrument flying and 292 hours of night flying. The aircraft was operating under a current certificate of airworthiness and there is no evidence to indicate that the aircraft was other than in an airworthy condition. There is no evidence that the gross weight of the aircraft and the position of the centre of gravity were other than within the specified limits throughout the flight. The weather at Warracknabeal at the time of the accident was fine. There was no cloud and the wind was from the south east at 10 to 15 knots. The night visibility, that is, the distance at which prominent lighted objects could be seen and recognised, was reported to be 20 miles but it was a very dark night and there was virtually no visible horizon. The aircraft departed Essendon at 1836 hours using the procedures applicable to flight under the Instrument Flight Rules. The night to Warracknabeal at 6,500 feet was uneventful and the pilot commenced descent when the aircraft was approximately 40 miles from that destination. During the descent he observed the lights of the town of Warracknabeal and the lighting at the aerodrome. After entering the circuit the pilot commenced a downwind leg for a landing towards the east on runway 08. He made a left turn onto base leg and noted the indicated altitude as 1, 000 feet and at that altitude the clearance between the aircraft and the local terrain should have been slightly more than 600 feet. On the base leg of the circuit the pilot was unable to see the runway lights and being unsure of his position, he elected to conduct a go around. He did not retract the undercarriage, which had been extended earlier in preparation for landing, and the pilot continued the second circuit at 1, 000 feet indicated altitude rather than climbing to establish 1, 000 feet terrain clearance which would have been the normal procedure. He flew over the non-directional beacon, which is located approximately 300 yards north of the western end of the runway on which he intended to land arid he then positioned the aircraft for the downwind leg of the circuit.

The crew was involved in a local test flight after the airplane has been rebuilt following another accident. After takeoff, the airplane went out of control and crashed by the runway. Both occupants were seriously injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

Crashed in unknown circumstances while completing a local top dressing mission. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

Flight 1750 was a scheduled domestic flight from Perth to Port Hedland in the State of Western Australia. Whilst taxiing for take-off on runway 02 at Perth Airport, the crew received and acknowledged an air traffic clearance communicated by Perth Tower. Of the alternative clearances offered, the pilot-in-command elected to proceed via the 030° radial of the Perth Very High Frequency Omni-Range (VOR), to Ballidu, whilst climbing to FL 170. Take-off was normal and the crew reported the departure time as 0836 hours Western Standard Time. At 0839 hours the pilot-in-command reported that he was climbing at an indicated airspeed of 155 kt, instead of the 175 kt proposed in the flight plan, because of turbulence which he first encountered at 1 500 ft. During this climb the co-pilot also advised Perth that the aircraft would continue its climb beyond the proposed FL 170 and cruise at FL 190. Apart from these minor changes to the flight plan the aircraft continued normally along the intended route with position reports being transmitted as scheduled to Perth Flight Service Centre, Meekatharra Flight Service Unit and Port Hedland Flight Service Centre. At 1114 hours the aircraft advised Port Hedland that it was abeam Wittenoom Gorge at FL 190 and that its estimated time of arrival at Port Hedland was 1142 hours. At 1120 hours the flight advised that it would be commencing its descent from FL 190 in three minutes and at 11-34 hours it reported that it was 30 miles by Distance Measuring Equipment south of Port Hedland-and had left 7 000 ft on descent. The flight service officer at Port Hedland acknowledged this message and transmitted the surface wind and temperature conditions and the altimeter setting for landing at Port Hedland. When this communication was not acknowledged further calls were made but no further communication from the aircraft was heard or recorded. At about the time that the aircraft failed to respond to the radio communication, two persons, each in different positions, saw the aircraft descending rapidly and steeply although these observations were made from distances of 44 and 64 miles respectively. Neither of these eyewitnesses was able to observe any impact with the ground because of intervening high terrain. At 1212 hours a Cessna 337 aircraft left Port Hedland to search along the route which the aircraft had been expected to follow and, eleven minutes later, the pilot of the search aircraft saw the burning wreckage of the Viscount aircraft, close to the intended route. Approximately one hour later a ground party from Port Hedland reached the scene of the accident. The location of the wreckage was later determined to be 28.1 miles on a bearing of 184' true from Port Hedland Airport. The aircraft was totally destroyed and none of the 26 occupants survived the crash.

Shortly after takeoff from Tiraumea (47 km northeast of Masterton) on a local topdressing flight, the aircraft suffered an engine failure, stalled and crashed. The pilot was uninjured while the aircraft was written off.

After touchdown at Longaga Airstrip (runway is 700 meters long), the pilot encountered difficulties to stop within the remaining distance. The aircraft overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest. All nine occupants were slightly injured and the airplane was damaged beyond repair and abandoned.

The crew was performing a local training flight at Lovely Banks Aerodrome, northwest of Geelong, Victoria. During the last segment, the level off was completed to high and the airplane struck the ground with its right main gear. Both occupants were uninjured but the aircraft was later considered as damaged beyond repair due to serious structure damages on the right wing.

Crashed in unknown circumstances while completing a topdressing mission. c/n TBC

Crashed in unknown circumstances while approaching Tapini Airstrip on a supply mission. The aircraft was destroyed and all four crew members were injured.

The single engine airplane was engaged in an aerial topdressing operation on a farm near Taumarunui. On the 43rd sortie of the day the aircraft failed to return to the airstrip as expected and a search found the crashed and burning Fletcher about mid-way between the sowing area and the airstrip. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and the fire was largely confined to the engine bay and cockpit. The pilot Robert Neville Scott was dead. Evidence showed that the pilot had made a 90 degree turn back towards the airstrip and had commenced jettisoning the 20 hundredweight ( 2,240 pounds, 995 kg ) superphosphate hopper load. The aircraft collided with the terrain on a 15 degree rising grassy slope at a low forward speed and high rate of descent. About 15 hundredweight of the load was still in the hopper. Both fuel tanks had been ruptured in the crash and there was an absence of Avtur odour on the ground around the LH tank. The engine was producing high rotational energy at the time of impact. There was no evidence of mechanical failure prior to impact. An autopsy of the pilot produced no evidence that the fire had begun in the air.